Sat, 29 Sep 2018 22:00:36 -0500WeeblySat, 22 Apr 2017 02:22:43 GMThttp://fightingtherain.weebly.com/writing/the-new-book-trailer-is-readyWow. It's amazing what you can do with a few stock photos, some music, and iMovie.

Ever heard of a book trailer?

Yeah, me neither. At least, not until I started hobnobbing with fellow authors. Turns out, it's just as normal to release a book trailer as it is a movie trailer, and probably much easier to make. After a few hours of attempting to put it together in Power Point, I learned the hard way how difficult it is to convert to video. Turns out, iMovie is a heck of a lot easier to use. A few iMovie Youtube tutorials, a dozen stock photos, and a royalty free soundtrack later, and I'd created my own book trailer! It was a ton of fun, once I got through the learning curve. I look forward to putting together one for Book Two next spring, and hope to have some live action filmed by then.

Anyway, without further ado, here it is. The trailer for Book One: When Darkness Builds, which will be available on Amazon, B&N, iBooks, Google Play, and Kobo May 19th.

]]>Wed, 15 Feb 2017 21:05:44 GMThttp://fightingtherain.weebly.com/writing/its-almost-hereWe are the choices we make. Soon we all must chose between who we want to be, and who we know we were born to be.

Ridiculously excited doesn't even begin to describe it.

It's taken 19 years of research and 5 years of writing to finish this novel. To say that it is my life's work would be an understatement. For me, this book is about so much more than just selling copy. It's about telling a story. The people in this book are family. They are my longest-running friendships, my most devoted companions. They've stood by me through the darkest and best times of my life. Over time, I fell in love with people who don't exist, and the least I can do is make them come alive, if even only on the page.

Earlier this week, I received the final versions of both the eBook and wrap covers for Book One: When Darkness Builds. There is something so amazing about seeing your work come to life in graphic. My graphic artist, Alexander von Ness of Nessgraphica, did such a wonderful job of bringing to life the feel of the book, and was amazing to work with. He was willing to make every tiny change I requested in order to get the cover just right. I can't wait to see it in print!

​Both the eBook and print version will be available May 19th.

]]>Tue, 14 Jun 2016 12:41:04 GMThttp://fightingtherain.weebly.com/writing/are-you-readyfor-the-darkEdits are wrapping up and the cover is in the works.Book I is coming soon!

"When Emma Grant was fourteen years old, she began to have the dreams.

In a world still trapped in the aftermath of a devastating world war, Emergency Manager and Crisis Psychologist Dr. Emma Grant has been asked to speak at the first Constitutional Convention since the United States was founded. With the states coming together in a last-ditch effort to end a crippling energy crisis and the Constitution hanging by a thread, Emma must fight to keep the American government from falling apart. But when the convention takes a deadly turn, will Emma lose what may be her last chance to finally do something about the disturbing images plaguing her dreams?

Or will she discover this is only the beginning?

When Darkness Builds is the first installment in The Caldera Series. It's the story of Jon and Emma Grant, and the power they've been given together.

To save the children of men."

Until then, enjoy a sneak peak of just what's in store:

From Book I: When Darkness Builds

Jon dropped Emma hard onto a bench before joining Sam and Jared at the corner of the escalator. She winced and grabbed her shoulder as a white hot pain shoot through it and down her arm. That’s when she noticed the blood all over her jacket. Emma had been shot. “Jon!” she tried to call out but couldn’t seem to make it above a whisper. Her vision began to blur as she stared at the blood on her hand, turned a dark red in the paleness of the moonlight. Emma had suffered more concussions than she could count and had, across the course of her career, broken at least one of every bone in her body, but she had never been shot before.Somehow, despite the intensity of the situation, Jon heard her call for him. He rushed back to her and passed his gun to Rachael, who was kneeling down on the floor beside Ephraim, trying to help him dress his wound. Though Ephraim’s leg looked considerably worse than what Emma imagined her shoulder did, he was a thousand times calmer than she was at the moment.Jon glanced back and forth between Emma and Ephraim. “Just try to buy us some time, ok?” he told Rachael.Rachael nodded and grabbed Ephraim’s gun and an extra clip as well before she left to join Sam and Jared back by the side of the escalators.“Jon,” Emma whimpered as he knelt down in front of her, the warmth of her tears even more noticeable against her cool cheeks. Jon put a hand on her face. “Emma, honey, listen to me. You’ve been hit. I’m going to have to take a look, ok? But I need you to stay calm. I need you to stay with me. Can you do that?”Emma nodded slightly. She knew how important it was that she didn’t pass out, but no matter how hard she tried she couldn’t stop shaking. Why was it so unbelievably cold in here?!Jon gently slipped her blazer jacket off her shoulders and slid the strap of her camisole down her arm. Either he was being extra careful not to hurt her or Emma was already in so much pain she couldn’t tell the difference. He wrinkled his forehead as he examined the damage. “Well, the good news is it looks like there is an exit wound,” Jon said before moving to the bench beside her to take a look at her back. Emma watched his expression in the moonlight that poured from the window behind him. For a moment she thought she noticed his face flush slightly pale.“The bad news is...” he added quietly. “You’re losing a lot of blood.”Ephraim pulled himself up onto the bench beside Jon and handed him a piece of gauze. Emma shuddered in pain, lingering for a moment on the edge of consciousness as Jon pressed the cloth hard against her shoulder.“Grant!” Sam called back to him, his voice ringing inside her head as hollow and echoed as the stairwell. “We’re going to run out of ammo eventually! We can’t hold them off forever!”Jon held the bandage to Emma’s shoulder and stared at her. He knew as well as she did that it was nothing short of a miracle that they had even made it this far. If they were caught, they were dead. Period.“Go,” said Ephraim from the other side of Jon.Jon turned to him and wrinkled his forehead. “What?”“You heard me, I said go. I’ll cover you. Just take them and get out of here.” “And then what, E? You going to shimmy back up the elevator shaft? Or climb out the window and scale down the side of the building?”“No. I’m going to do what I came here to do. Stop a bomb from going off.”“Oh yeah,” said Jon, lowering his voice. “And how exactly are you going to do that with a busted leg?”Ephraim pursed his lips together for a moment and stared down at the bandage wrapped around his thigh. The one that seemed to be more red now than it was white.“He can’t,” answered Emma quietly. “And you know he can’t. Not without help.”Jon turned back to her and clenched his jaw. “I said no, Emma.”“Damn it, Jon! Since when did you turn your back on the world?”“When they turned their backs on us!” he snapped at her. “Fifteen months, Emma. Fifteen long months they left me over there while you lay in a hospital bed dying. Haven’t we already done enough? Haven’t we already lost enough? Let someone else be the hero for once, because I’m done.”Emma shrank back and tried to pull away from him, not altogether unaware of how dizzy the sudden movement made her. She was already in enough pain, though, and wasn’t really in the mood to bear the brunt of his anger.Jon adjusted the pressure he was putting on her shoulder and softened his voice. “Look, I’m sorry, ok? Just calm down. You’re in shock and you’re not thinking clearly. We have got to get you out of here and to a hospital. You and Ephraim. And what about Jack, Emma? He sacrificed himself to save us, you know.”“So that we could lose ourselves in the process!? Hundreds of people will die when that bomb goes off. Probably more. What do you think he would say if he knew we could have stopped it? What do you think he would say if he knew that he saved us just so we could turn around and be selfish enough to only save ourselves?” Emma glanced over Jon’s shoulder at Ephraim for a moment before lowering her voice. It was becoming harder and harder to focus. “Why do you think he even did it in the first place? Because he believes in us. Because he believes in you. Do you really want to be the one to prove him wrong?”Jon’s face fell. He dropped his eyes to his lap and lowered his voice. “Emmy, I didn’t ask for any of this. I don’t want any of this. All I want to do is go home, with my wife, to my kids. Why is that so bad?”“Because, Jon, that’s not who we are and you know it.”Jon took a long, deep breath and shook his head, staring down at the ring on his right hand. “We are the choices we make,” he whispered to himself.“That’s right,” said Emma quietly. “And we made a choice, remember? Maybe it’s time we stopped hiding from who we really are.”

]]>Fri, 22 Jan 2016 00:21:32 GMThttp://fightingtherain.weebly.com/writing/the-new-launch-dateIn case you were wondering, I'm kind of new to this whole "novelling" thing.

Christmas has come and gone, and with it went the original book launch date.

Que sera sera, right?

I've hit a few snags, ranging from edits to covers to permission requests. But I haven't given up! (At least, not entirely. Though I really, really wanted to a couple of times.) The good news is, I hung in there and it was all worth it! Everything has finally come together to get this baby polished and out, and I'm excited to announce we are on track to have it ready and available by Spring of this year! As much as it pained me to have to push the launch date back, I look forward to all the changes that are being made to make the story--and the subsequent series--even better!

So hang in there right along with me, and get ready for some previews and promotions coming over the next few months!

]]>Thu, 10 Dec 2015 00:17:48 GMThttp://fightingtherain.weebly.com/writing/to-whom-it-may-concern"Hello, my name is Misty, and sometimes I can be a jerk. So please forgive me"

Can we just start over, please?pretend I didn’t say all those thingsI’d like to stopfeelinglike a jerkpinned to the ceiling

I didn’t mean to stingI swear, and yetit just keeps happeningagain and again

what must be wrong with me?to keep hurtingto keep flirting with regretover and overI just want to forgetForget

So can we just start over, please?pretend I didn’t mean all those thingspretend I didn’t screamor thinkpretend I didn’t hurt or sink

into this holeI keep diggingdeeper and deeperfor myself?

let go of the guiltthat eatsfrom the insidethat burns and stingsand lives and breathes

So why don’t we just start over? Please.pretend I never felt these thingsjust take a step backand relaxforget the “what could have beens”and focus on the nows

So, here goes:Hello, my name is Mistyand I can be a jerksometimesso please forgive me

But if you really careabout meas much as I doabout you

We can just start overand forget the pastFocus on what’s right in fronton what we haveand this time, try to make it last